The kids are all right.
Five games into a 2014 campaign in which Urban Meyer was unexpectedly forced to replace his senior Heisman hopeful and two-time B1G Player of the Year under center, not to mention his leading rusher, receiver, the bulk of his offensive line and top three tacklers, the Buckeyes are 4-1 thanks largely to the ongoing youth movement taking over the team.
Curious as to just how statistically impactful the freshmen and sophomores (eligibility-wise) have been so far this season compared to the first two years of the Urban Meyer Era, I ran the the numbers and they speak volumes.
It all starts with the well-chronicled success of redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett in taking over the reins from an injured Braxton Miller just 12 days before the season opener. Through five outings, albeit against mostly feeble competition, Barrett has produced 17 passing touchdowns against five picks, a 66% completion percentage, 271 passing yards per game and another 55 on the ground giving him a total yards per game average of 326. Those passing yards per tilt are nearly 100 more than Braxton averaged last season and his 326 total yards per game are +63 though, again, nobody would question Miller's body of work was against much stiffer competition to date.
In the backfield, the task of replacing the two-headed rushing monster of Miller and Carlos Hyde was also tabbed as a Herculean task after the duo ran for over 2,500 yards and 27 touchdowns last season but thanks to contributions from freshmen and sophomores, the rushing attack hasn't fallen off a cliff.
| YEAR | # FR/SO RUSHERS | ATT | % ATT | YDS | % YDS | TDS | % TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 9 | 226 | 90% | 1,190 | 96% | 7 | 70% |
| 2013 | 5 | 95 | 15% | 730 | 17% | 4 | 9% |
| 2012 | 3 | 284 | 51% | 1,619 | 56% | 17 | 46% |
Through five games this season, the top four rushers are all underclassmen with senior Rod Smith clocking in at 5th with 80 yards. Ezekiel Elliott has emerged as the no doubt starting tailback with a team-high 79 carries, 462 yards and three touchdowns with Barrett racking up 71 totes, 276 yards and two scores. Curtis Samuel would've been a bigger factor to date if not for multiple leg woes but is still the squad's third leading rusher (192 yards) while even backup quarterback Cardale Jones has more yards on the ground (97) than senior Smith at the moment. These numbers don't even account for the jet sweeps Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson have executed for legit gains since they show up in the passing numbers and the kids are still accounting for over 90% of the carries and yards.
Last year, by comparison, the top four rushers were all juniors or older (Hyde, Brax, Hall, Smith) with Elliott and Wilson checking in at 6th and 7th, respectively, with a modest 61 carries and 512 yards and three touchdowns combined. As such, the young guys tallied a paltry 15% of the carries and 17% of the rushing yards.
In 2012, Miller carried the underclassmen numbers as he accounted for nearly 80% of the attempts, yards and touchdowns racked up by young'uns while freshmen Smith and Bri'onte Dunn had very marginal impact (348 yards, 4 TD combined) as junior Hyde did the bulk of the complementary work to Miller.
In the receiving corps, Meyer lost his leader in Philly Brown (63 rec, 771 yards, 10 TD) but returned seniors-to-be in Devin Smith, Jeff Heuerman and Evan Spencer, aka his 2nd, 3rd and 4th leading pass catchers, however a bevy of young but unproven talent lie in wait. While they haven't collectively blown up yet, the freshmen and sophomores in the corps, thus far, have fared better than their peers in Urban's first two seasons in Columbus.
| YEAR | # FR/SO RECEIVERS | REC | % REC | YDS | % YDS | TDS | % TDS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 6 | 54 | 59% | 745 | 54% | 9 | 53% |
| 2013 | 5 | 35 | 15% | 324 | 11% | 4 | 11% |
| 2012 | 6 | 64 | 40% | 1,048 | 48% | 8 | 47% |
Redshirt sophomore Michael Thomas has been the story in the receiving corps this fall producing team highs in receptions (17), yards (322) and touchdowns (5-tie). He's been a beast in yards after catch and his consistency as a first-year contributor has helped steady the group and proved a valuable complement to Devin Smith's explosive-play ability. Dontre is 2nd on the team with 14 receptions (221 yards) and Elliott is 4th with 10 out of the backfield, just behind Smith's 11. The nicked up Samuel has six receptions and the under utilized Jalin Marshall has a half-dozen, with two scores though as noted earlier, a few of the catches attributed to the H-Back duo have come off what are essentially running plays. Still, you have to love the production and maybe more importantly the depth being built on the edge, both of which stack up very favorably to Urban's first two teams in Columbus.
In 2013, the top four guys were upperclassmen with the then-freshman Wilson ranking 5th with 22 grabs for 210 yards and a pair of scores. Nick Vannett was next line as the team's 9th leading receiver (8/80, TD) while true frosh Elliott had just three grabs in limited action meaning the underclassmen combined for just 15% of the receptions and 11% of the yards and touchdowns.
During Urban's inaugural season in Columbus, the freshmen and sophomores made their mark with a respectable 40% of the grabs and nearly half the yards and touchdowns thanks largely to then-sophomore Devin Smith's 30 catches for 618 yards and six touchdowns in support of Philly Brown's junior statline that went 60 for 699 with three scores primarily from the slot. Senior Jake Stoneburner was the team's 3rd leading receiver with sophomore Even Spencer (12 for 136), freshman Nick Vannett (9 for 123) and sophomore Jeff Heuerman (8 for 94, TD) rounding out the team's top six pass catchers.
On defense, the youth movement has also been pronounced. Take a look at the particulars:
| YEAR | FR | % FR | INT | % INT | TFL | % TFL | SACK | % SACK | TKL | % TKL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1 | 50% | 7 | 78% | 19.0 | 59% | 7.5 | 63% | 164 | 50% |
| 2013 | 4 | 50% | 3 | 19% | 41.0 | 45% | 23.5 | 56% | 369 | 38% |
| 2012 | 3 | 47% | 4 | 29% | 26.5 | 41% | 13.0 | 43% | 377 | 45% |
The 2014 Silver Bullets are loaded with young guys making their mark paced by true sophomore Joey Bosa who leads the team in tackles for loss (7.0) and sacks (3.5) and fellow true sophomore Vonn Bell who is 2nd on the team in tackles with 31 and interceptions (1).
Fellow safety and redshirt sophmore Tyvis Powell checks in at 4th on the squad in stops with 27 and medical redshirt freshman Darron Lee has stuffed the stat sheet with 24 tackles (5th), five TFL, a sack, an interception and a fumble recovery. Alongside Lee, true frosh Raekwon McMillan continues his assault on senior Curtis Grant's snaps and the playmaker already stands 7th on the team in tackles (15) while ranking 2nd in sacks (2.0) and 3rd in TFL (3.5). Back to the secondary, redshirt freshman Eli Apple leads the team with two picks and stands 9th in stops with 14.
Overall, the kids are making a tremendous impact accounting for half the total tackles (6 of the top 9 tacklers are Fr/So), 63% of the sacks, 59% of the TFL and eight of the 11 turnovers.
Last year, a glut of freshmen and sophomores saw time but just three of the top nine tacklers were underclassmen as the group tallied only 38% of the total stops. In fact, then-sophomore Josh Perry was the only underclassmen to rank in the top six. The young pups weren't a huge factor in turnovers either as 71% of those came from seasoned vets. Where the made the most significant mark was up front where Joey Bosa and Noah Spence blew up for 28 combined TFL, good for 30% of the team total and 68% of the Fr/So production. Similarly, on the sacks front, the duo racked up a combined 15.5, good for 37% of the team total and 66% of the underclassmen tally.
In Urban's first season, the freshmen and sophomores were more of a factor but that bulk of that production came from just two players as a sophomore Ryan Shazier led the team in tackles with redshirt sophomore Bradley Roby placing third.
True sophomore Doran Grant was just starting to earn notice and finished 13th in tackles with an interception while true freshman Noah Spence finished with 12 stops and a sack. Sophomore Michael Bennett played in just eight games due to injury in 2012 while freshman Adolphus Washington was just cutting his teeth on big time college football (9 stops, 3.5 TFL). No other freshmen and sophomores were legit factors on defense with Curtis Grant, Jamal Marcus and Steve Miller seeing spot duty though behind Shazier and Roby, the underclassmen combined for just over 40% of the tackles, sacks and TFL.
Overall, while Ohio State may not yet appear to have the chops to be a legit national title contender in 2014, the volume of experience gained and continuous improvement shown could still allow them to enter the conversation before the year is done but even if not, the table is being set for what should be a dominant 2015 season.
